Ola in talks with Audi, Mercedes for subscription-based self driving

Ola, which is a ride-hailing platform, is now in discussions with the luxury carmakers, which even includes the Mercedes, BMW and Audi to launch a subscription-based service that is also under its self-driving offering, according to the report.

Ola has also been running a small pilot to the self-service in the Bangalore currently and is also expected to provide the service in the coming few weeks with the help of an Ola Fleet Technologies.

The company is also believed to have earmarked an investment of more than $500 Million for the self-drive service.

According to the source, the company is also in talks with some of the car makers like the Mercedes, Audi and BMW to bring up in India a model where the users can get access to the luxury cars by paying a small subscription fee.

This format has also been developed in the markets like America but has given the high cost of the luxury vehicles in India; a direct to customer model may not be feasible in the country.

Ola already allows the customers to book rides in luxury cars with its ‘Kux’ offerings. In the month of October 2016, the Bangalore based company has also collaborated with the BMW for expanding the category.

The company which has also competed with the American based Uber in India and the International markets like the US, Australia has also been aggressively revamping up its rides business as well as with the food delivery operations business through the Foodpanda.

The company has also announced that the Hyundai and Kia are investing $300 million in the company. Ola which counts some of the leading investors like the China Tencent and SoftBank Group, and had received Rs 650 crore funding from the Flipkart Co-founder Sachin Bansal in the month of February this year.

Matrix India and the Tiger Global India has also invested Rs 400 crore in the Ola electric mobility arm.